


Following Suit

by astudyinfic



Category: According to Hoyle - Abigail Roux
Genre: Canon Continuation, M/M, New Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:47:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22536481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: Marshal Washington knew Cage and Rose were going after the box.  Flynn knew it too.And most likely their former prisoners knew the US Marshals were right behind them.The question was, who would get there first.
Relationships: Cage/Gabriel Rose, Eli Flynn/William Washington
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	Following Suit

Wash never realized how quickly life could change. It had only been three days since they left Lincoln. Three days since they picked up the prisoners they were supposed to transfer. Transfers were never easy but nothing in his previous experience could have prepared him for this one. 

One prisoner gone the way he was supposed to go, into the hands of the military who would deal with him as they saw fit. Two pardoned and gone off on their own. Several men dead, a steamboat destroyed, and his relationship with his partner forever altered. 

Wash couldn’t find it in himself to be upset about the pardons or his relationship. 

Cage and Gabriel had a two-hour head start. Knowing their two former prisoners as he did, Wash doubted they would surprise them when the inevitably wound up in the same place, but for the sake of appearances, they let the other two go on ahead. 

Part of him wondered if they should just turn around and head back to Lincoln. There was business to attend to at home, and he and Flynn needed to figure out how their everyday lives would be changed by the shift in their personal relationship. They could go home, relieve the man they’d left in charge, and work on _them_. So much to learn about one another that would be much easier to learn in their own homes instead of following the trail of some shifty government agents south, to places unknown.

But while their job here might be officially over, there were unanswered questions and neither he nor Flynn was content to leave things as they were. Besides, someone needed to keep an eye on Cage and Rose. 

Or so they argued to themselves. 

As they rode, following the river south towards New Orleans, Wash stole glances at his partner. No longer were they furtive, longing looks when Flynn couldn’t see, but bold and teasing glances that caught Flynn’s eye with the promise of more when they finally had some time to themselves. 

Wash had wanted this for so long. He couldn’t remember a time when he had Flynn in his life and didn’t want to be with the man. He’d long ago made peace with the fact that Flynn didn’t like him the way Wash liked him and was content to take what he could get; a partner at work and a friend for life. Until Flynn kissed him in the middle of a firefight, Wash thought he could live with that. Now that he knew the feel of Flynn’s lips, the taste of his skin, there was no going back and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

If they’d played everything according to Hoyle, they would have both been dead, their prisoners as well. Though, maybe not Cage. The bandit who took them seemed awfully keen on getting Cage to come along and cooperate. And awfully put out when the man continued to fight back. Even if he had once been known as Whistling Jack Kale, Wash respected the man. He made his decision and stuck with it, even if it involved him getting hurt and possibly even killed. 

“What’s on your mind?” Flynn asked, pulling Wash from his thoughts of the men they were following. He glanced over at his partner, marveling at how much more relaxed he seemed now. That kiss was apparently what Flynn needed to break down all those barriers he kept throwing up around himself. Now Wash could tell exactly what was on his mind, a thought that delighted him more than he could say. 

He offered a one-armed shrug, the other still holding firmly to the reins of his horse. “Lots of things, I guess. Who Cage was and who he is. That Rose is a decent chap, all things considered. That I still have some of that tonic in my bag and it wouldn’t hurt to take a couple of extra hours to get to New Orleans.” Flynn blushed at that, growing even redder when Wash shot him a wink. 

To his credit, however, Marshal Flynn was seriously considering it. 

“There’s one city between here and New Orleans. It wouldn’t hurt to bunk there for the night before continuing on. If you’re getting tired, that is.” 

Wash rolled his eyes and urged his horse forward. “I _am_ exhausted. I think a comfortable place to stay is exactly what we need.”

They pushed their horses harder, both far more anxious to get to their destination than they were to find the answer to the box’s mystery. The box could wait. This? This could not.

As they rode into town (though it was almost too small to be called even that) there was only one hotel with a small restaurant attached to it. Flynn went to get them checked in while Wash tended to their horses. He did a thorough job, brushing them and giving them their food and water before tying them up for the night. It was hardly the horses’ fault that he was in a hurry and they’d done their best to get the two marshals here as quickly as they could.

Stepping inside, Wash’s eyes glanced around the room. Mostly he was looking for Flynn, but the way this trip had been going, he was looking for trouble as well. 

Trouble was what he found.

An arm looped through his, practically escorting him out of the large common room and to the smaller hallway that led to the private rooms. “Marshal Washington, what a marvelous surprise,” Rose practically cooed and Wash didn’t bother to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Less than twelve hours since the last time they saw one another and he’d already forgotten how much of a dandy the man really was. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when Flynn walked into this humble establishment. Last I heard, the two of you were riding back to Lincoln.”

“And the last I heard, the two of you were riding back east to catch a boat for England.”

Rose shrugged. “Yes, well, plans change. You understand how that is, don’t you Marshal?”

He rather supposed he did and Wash gave him a quick smile. “Seen Flynn around here? He was supposed to be getting us a room for the night.” 

“Yes, yes, that’s all been taken care of,” Rose said with a wave of his hand. “First, you must join us for dinner. Marshal Flynn is already in there, enjoying Cage’s titillating conversation, I am certain.” 

Wash wondered if any other man could get away with saying such things to Cage but he rather doubted it. It seemed to him there were quite a few things Dusty Rose could do that no other man could. He rather thought anyone else would get a right hook or a bullet between the eyes for their efforts. But Rose could charm just about anyone. Except for Flynn, a fact for which Wash was exceedingly grateful.

He let Rose steer him toward the dining room, eyes darting around in search of anyone trying to kill his companion. Several had tried already so Wash assumed this was just a thing for him, and letting Rose get killed would put a damper on the rest of the evening.

Flynn and Cage sat at the table, both staring intently at the door when Rose and Wash walked in. Cage lit up when he saw Rose and Wash watched Flynn’s shoulders relax just a little. After the last few days, he couldn’t be surprised that Flynn worried something had happened to him.

“I see you ran into them as well,” Flynn said with a heavy sigh, though Wash could see Flynn’s amusement. “What are the odds we’d run into them here?”

Cage rolled his eyes and Wash met his gaze with a smirk. Leave it to the men they loved to be overly dramatic about the whole thing. There was never doubt in his mind that Cage and Rose would go after the box and it seemed Cage was of the same opinion about them. 

They ordered their meals, a break in the otherwise tense silence. Finally, Flynn cleared his throat. “So, I assume you are here for the same reason we are.”

With a sigh, Rose rolled his shoulders back and met Flynn’s eyes. Wash prepared himself for whatever the former outlaw was about to say. He rather hoped Rose wouldn’t aggravate Flynn too much. He’d been looking forward to their hotel room and didn’t want to spend that time listening to his partner rant about the difficult Brit. “I don’t know what you are talking about. We are simply on a tour of the southern part of this great country you are. See the sights, meet the people. That sort of thing.” 

Everyone at the table (and probably within hearing distance) knew he was lying and Flynn took a drink from his glass and raised his brows in challenge. When Rose didn’t reply, Flynn shrugged. “Of course. The same thing we are doing. We so rarely get to travel and since we were already halfway to New Orleans, it only felt right to finish the journey.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Rose nodded along and while none of them knew their replies were anywhere close to the truth, no one called them out on it either. They were all content to live with the lie rather than admit the truth out loud and risk being overheard or called out.

Dinner passed in a similarly quiet and tense fashion. After having spent so much time together and lived through the ordeal that they had the last three days, there was very little any of them had to say to one another. At least in public. Wash had plenty of questions for both of them but there was no need to draw attention to the nature of their relationships. They could figure it out on their own. Or he would ask Rose when no one was around. Better for him to do it than Flynn. Flynn would probably end up punching Rose after he answered the question.

If given the choice, Wash would ask Cage but there was one very obvious flaw in that plan.

Pushing back from the table, Wash nodded to the other men. “Gentlemen, safe travels.” He sent a pointed look at Flynn who flushed bright and pushed back from the table as well, following his lead. Flynn tipped his hat to the other two and they made their way out of the dining room, Flynn passing him to show Wash where their room was. 

Once inside the room, Wash pushed Flynn back against the door, kissing him for all he was worth. He would never get over the way Flynn’s flesh felt under his fingertips, the way Flynn’s lips seemed to melt into his own. This was still so new that Wash was overwhelmed in all the best ways. 

They stripped one another of their clothes and explored their bodies with eyes, hands, and lips. It had never been like this with any other, not a man or a woman he’d ever been with had ever captured his heart and mind the way Flynn did. 

As they lay in bed, curled together with their sweat drying on rapidly cooling skin, Wash let his fingers dance up and down Flynn’s back. “We know they are going after the box,” he said hesitantly, not knowing how Flynn would react. “They know we are going after the box. We all know we work well enough together.”

Flynn gave a heavy sigh, rolling his eyes towards the headboard. “You want to team up with the criminals.”

“Not criminals anymore.” Wash smirked at Flynn’s annoyance. He knew his lover well enough to already know that Flynn would agree to this. “We stand a better chance of succeeding if we have them with us.”

“I don’t like it.”

Wash knew that too. This wasn’t something they would normally do but these were unusual circumstances and it would be easier for all of them to team up. “I know. But we also want that box and I don’t think we can get it without them.” 

When Flynn, sighed, kissed him and pushed up out of bed, Wash knew he’d won. “We need to go find them before they disappear again. I don’t feel like tracking them when we know where they are right now.”

Following suit, Wash put on his clothes as well, knowing they needed to hurry before Cage and Rose snuck out to get a jump on them. They didn’t even know if the other men were even staying at the hotel or just stopping to eat. 

Once they were presentable, Wash flung open the door, only to be met with Rose leaning against the wall across from them. “Took you long enough, Marshals. Cage is getting the horses. I suggest we get moving if we are to get to New Orleans by morning.”

Without another word, Rose turned on his heel and took off down the hall. 

“Just remember this was your idea and I really hate you,” Flynn grumbled, straightening his vest before turning to follow. 

Wash laughed and fell in step beside him. “I know. And no, you don’t.”

Flynn’s eyes softened and he smiled. “You’re right. I don’t. Now, let’s go see some men about a box.”

Not knowing what the future held, Wash was anxious to find out. And he knew the man beside him, the man he loved, would be there every step of the way.


End file.
